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(No Model.)

J. W. REYNOLDS, Jr. REGISTERING CHAIR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. REYNOLDS, JR., OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN VVEDDERBURN, OF SAME PLACE.

REGISTERING-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 535,599, dated March 12, 1895.

Application filed February 28, 1894. Serial No. 501,839. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN W. REYNOLDS, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of WVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Registering-Chairs; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to chairs and the like, and it has for its objects among others to provide a chair equipped with a registering mechanism adapted to be operated by the depression and elevation of the seat portion of the chair or other article of furniture.

\Vhile the invention in the present instance is shown in connection with a chair designed primarily for use as a boot-blacks chair, I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the application of the invention to such a style of chair. It is proposed to so construct the parts constituting the invention that it can be applied to any style of chair, sofa, or divan, or other article of furniture serving as a seat for a person, the style of chair shown being adopted for the purpose of illustration and as showing one form or mannor of carrying out the invention. The mechanism herein disclosed is designed to be operated by the upward movement of the seat portion of the chair as the occupant rises therefrom. This is designed so that the registering mechanism cannot be operated by the shifting of position of the person in the seat. The essence of the invention however would not be departed from were the mechanism arranged to be operated by the downward movement of the seat as the person seats himself therein.

The registering mechanism is adapted to operate in conjunction with a device for un-,

locking the drawer-which it is proposed to arrange in the chair for the reception of the money as it is paid for a shave, boot-black, or whatever labor may be performed by the party in charge of the chair. This drawerunlocking device is so arranged that as the person rises from the seat the drawer is unlocked and thrown open and at the same time the registering disk is revolved one notch so that at the end of a days work the money in the drawer ought to correspond with the amount'indicated by the registering disk.

The mechanism constituting my present invention is simple in its nature, can be manufactured at a trifling cost, is positive and reliable in its action, and not liable to get out of order or to fail to register.

Other objects and advantages of the invention willhereinafter appear and the novel fea tures thereof will be specifically defined by the appended claims.

The invention in its preferable form is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a chair provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the chair, on an enlarged scale showing the interior mechanism. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the operating parts removed from the chair, with a portion of the money-drawer broken away.

The same letters of reference are employed to designate the same or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings A designates the body portion of a chair which may be of any desired form of construction. In the present instance it is shown as a chair designed for a bootblack and is provided with a canopy B supported upon the back of the chair. Beneath the surrounding frame of the body portion of the chair is a receptacle or box 0 within which the operating parts are to be located. This boX may be connected with the chair frame or not as may be deemed best.

Vithin the box 0 is a horizontal partition D from which rise the rods E which extend through the partition and upon their lower ends receive the nuts e, while around the rods above the partition are the springs F which find bearings at their upper ends against plates f or, if desired, against the under side of the seat frame G. If the plates are employed they bear against the under side of said seat frame. This seat frame may be of any desired character. It may be upholstered if preferred and is mounted for free vertical movement within the surrounding frame work of the chair as seen clearly in Fig. 2, the up-. per face of course normally extending above the upper face of the said frame as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. It is supported upon the springs which may be adjusted for any required weight. The rods are mounted to slide freely through openings in the partition and the tension of the springs may be adjusted and regulated by the nuts on the lower ends of the rods. The downward movement of the seat portion is limited by stops H which project inwardly from the walls of the box 0 as seen in Fig. 2.

I is a horizontal shaft mounted to rotate in suitable bearings in or on the walls of the box 0 as shown in Fig. 2, and fast upon this shaft near one end thereof is the registering disk J which is provided around its hub with a series of notches or openings j as seen in Fig. 3 and near itsperiphery with indicating marks J as seen also in said Fig. 3 which correspond with the notches or openings nearer the hub, each notch representing any desired amount, as for instance five cents, in which case the numbers on the disk near the periphery will be of the same character, that is, they will be arranged in fives, so that as the disk is moved one notch the arm soon to be described will indicate five on the periphery of the disk and if the disk is moved two notches the arm will indicate ten cents and so on. This arm K is affixed at one end to some fixed part, as the Wall of the box while its other end is provided with a lug as seen in Fig. 3 adapted to engage in the notches of the disk as the latter is rotated. This arm has sufficient resiliency to permit it to slide over the notches as the disk rotates. Also fast on this shaft is a wheel L, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, and which is provided with teeth or notches around its periphery, as seen in Fig. 3, which teeth or notches are shown as so constructed as to be acted upon by the pawl, now to be described, only as the latter moves in the upward direction.

M is a coiled spring around the shaftI with one end attached to the hub of the wheel L and its other end secured to some fixed part, as a collar or boss 11, shown in Fig. 2.

N is a vertical bar or rod having its upper end extended horizontally, as seen at N, in Fig. 3, and which is attached to the under side of the seat frame, the lower end of the said rod or bar being preferably bifurcated as shown and having secured therein the arm 0 which terminates in a hook or horizontal catch portion 0, as shown in Fig. 3, which is designed to engage under the free end of the drawer-latch P which is pivoted between its ends as at p to some fixed part, as a bracket P seen in Fig. 8, While its other end is formed with a notch 19 which is designed to engage a projection or pin g on the drawer V which is mounted to slide in the bottom of the box and is designed to be forced open when not held against such movement, by a spring not shown, arranged in-the usual way, such for instance as is common in cash registers and other like devices. The bar or rod N carries between its ends a pawl Q beveled as seen in Fig. 3 with its widest portion uppermost as seen in said figure and this pawl is adapted to engage the-toothed or notched wheel L as will now be explained.

WVith the parts constructed and arranged substantially as above set forth the operation is as follows:-Normally the parts are in the position in which they are shown, the drawer being locked and the seat in its uppermost position. As a person sits in the seat the latter is depressed and consequently the bar or rod N is moved downward and the registering disk J and the wheel L are not actuated, but when the person rises from the seat the springs F return the seat to its normal position and as the latter moves upward the bar or rod N moves upward and the pawl engaging the wheel L turns the same one notch and this moves the registering disk one notch also, the lug of the arm K riding from one notch into the next one. As the bar or rod N moves upward its hooked arm raises the pivoted latch and throws its notched end downward out of engagement with the pin on the drawer when its spring throws it open. WVhen the drawer is closed its pin or projection rides up the inclined end of the latch and falls into the notch and thus the drawer is again locked. As the shaft I is rotated the spring M thereon is wound up and when it is desired to return the disk to zero (0) the arm K is released from its notch in the disk when the spring will return the disk to its normal position.

Modifications in details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. The combination with a chair, of a receptacle or box below the same having a horizontal partition therein, rods on said partition, springs on the said rods bearing against the seat and stops projecting inwardly from the sides of the said receptacle, and a registering device actuated by the return of the seat to its normal position, consisting of a shaft carrying a registering disk, a spring arm having a lug adapted to engage notches in said disk a ratchet wheel fixed thereto and a rod carrying a pawl which engages the said ratchet upon the upward movement of the said seat, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination of a chair seat having spring actuating devices, a registering mechanism operated by the movement of the said seat, the said mechanism consisting of a shaft carrying a registering disk, a spring armhaving a lug adapted to engage notches in said disk a ratchet wheel fixed thereto and a rod carrying a pawl which engages the said ratchet upon the upward movement of the said seat, the said rod also serving as a drawerreleasing device whereby the drawer is opened by the upward movement of the seat, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination with a seat mounted for vertical movement, of a registering mechanism, consisting of a shaft carrying a registering disk, a spring arm having a lug adapted to engage notches in said disk, a ratchet wheel fixed thereto, and a rod carrying a pawl which engages the said ratchet upon the upward movement of the said seat, and a vertical rod connected with the seat and provided with a pawl constructed to engage said wheel on its upward movement only, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with a seat mounted for vertical movement, of a registering mechanism consisting of a shaft carrying a registering disk, a spring arm having alug adapted to engage notches in said disk, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft, and a rod connected to the seat and carrying a pawl which engages the said ratchet upon the upward movement of the said seat, the said rod having an arm connected thereto at its lower end which terminates in a hook adapted to engage the free end of a pivoted drawer latch upon the upward movement of the same, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN W. REYNOLDS, JR.

Witnesses:

CHAs. S. HYER, K. A. NAU. 

